5.  The applicants were born in 1943, 1937 and 1965 respectively and live in Skopje.
6.  In 1950 two plots of land (former plots nos. 100 and 102) were confiscated from the late Mr K.S., the applicants’ predecessor, and a third person. The land was divided into several new plots, which were renumbered in accordance with the new land register (нов премер). A new plot, no. 2943/6, comprising both the former plots nos. 100 and 102, was created. Two separate sets of restitution proceedings concerning the former plots nos. 100 and 102 respectively – both including parts of plot no. 2943/6 – were instituted by ten individuals (“the claimants”) in respect of property confiscated from their predecessor and by the applicants in respect of property confiscated from Mr K.S.
7.  On 7 December 2001 the claimants submitted a request to the Restitution Commission of the Ministry of Finance (“the Restitution Commission”) for the restitution of several plots (those comprising former plot no.100) – including part of plot no. 2943/6, the surface area of which was 2,260 sq. m. – that had been confiscated from their late predecessor. On 24 June 2002 the Restitution Commission granted the restitution claim in the relevant part and returned the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 to the claimants. The restitution order was based on the report – dated 22 February 2002 – of an on-site examination carried out on 20 February 2002 by three representatives of the competent body within the Ministry of Finance. In the relevant part, the restitution order stated that:
“...an on-site inspection of plots nos. 2943/3 and 2943/6 was carried out... and established that the land in question was undeveloped building land, but that preliminary construction work had been undertaken, the legal basis of which should be determined”.
8.  The relevant parts of the report of 22 February 2002, which was submitted in the case-file, stated inter alia:
“The former plot no. 100 comprised parts of new plots nos. 2943/3 and 2943/6 and 6798 on which preparatory construction work had begun: on the day the examination was carried out, the construction site was fenced off and initial digging had started ...
According to cadastral records (катастарот на недвижности), plots nos. 2943/3 and 2943/6 are recorded in land register (имотен лист) no. 30165 as an orchard ... and as undeveloped building land belonging to (a company) G.D.
Since preparatory construction work has begun on the site and there is no information as to its legal basis, we consider that the [Restitution Commission] should examine the circumstances in order to decide whether the land in question could be returned or not, given the fact that no buildings have been constructed on the plot.”
9.  After the restitution order had become final, the public prosecutor and the Solicitor General (Јавен Правобранител) requested that the Government Appeal Commission (“the Appeal Commission”) declare it null and void (барање за огласување ништовно) in the part concerning plots nos. 2943/3 and 2943/6. On 20 November 2003 the Appeal Commission granted the requests, finding that plot no. 2943/6 could not be returned to the claimants since 1) a building permit for the construction of a petrol station had been issued on 16 May 2001 (it became final on 2 June 2001), namely, before the restitution claim was submitted and 2) according to an on-site examination carried out on 22 February 2002, construction work had started on the plot in question.
10.  On 5 November 2004 the Supreme Court, relying on sections 20 and 72 of the Restitution Act (see paragraphs 26 and 32 below) quashed the Appeal Commission’s decision, stating inter alia:
“... since the entry into force of the Restitution Act, no changes of fact or law regarding a property are allowed. In practical terms this means that since the entry into force of the Restitution Act, a property subject to restitution cannot be disposed of, no construction work can be carried out on it ... and no decisions conferring rights on third persons can be made in respect of that property ... the only legal issue of relevance for the merits of a restitution claim is the state of the property, actual and legal, at the time when the Restitution Act entered into force. Any changes, in fact or law, to that property made after the entry into force of the Act are irrelevant ...”
11.  Consequently, the court found it irrelevant that the building permit for the construction of a petrol station pre-dated the claimants’ restitution claim. It ruled that the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 should therefore be restored into the claimants’ possession since it was undeveloped when the Restitution Act entered into force. It remained undeveloped after the restitution claim was submitted (7 December 2001), as was clear from the on-site examination report of 22 February 2002. In such circumstances, the court held that the plot had been correctly returned to the claimants, under section 28(2) of the Restitution Act (see paragraph 28 below).
12.  The public prosecutor challenged this decision by means of a request for a review of its legality (барање за заштита на законитоста). On 12 December 2005 the plenary session (општата седница) of the Supreme Court dismissed the public prosecutor’s request and upheld the judgment of 5 November 2004, stating inter alia:
“... the court correctly held that the construction work noted in the on-site examination report of 22 February 2002 does not signify that the plot in question constituted developed building land within the meaning of the Building Land Act ... Consequently, having regard to the date of entry into force of the Restitution Act and the fact that the plot in question was undeveloped, the court correctly decided that there were legal grounds for title to the plot in question to be restored under section 20 of the Restitution Act ...”
13.  On 16 May 2006 the Appeal Commission again declared the restitution order of 24 June 2002 null and void. On 22 December 2006 the Supreme Court quashed this decision again, instructing the administrative body to comply with its judgment.
14.  On 22 March 2007 the Appeal Commission refused the requests of the public prosecutor and the Solicitor General for the restitution order of 24 June 2002 to be declared null and void. On 27 March 2008 the Administrative Court (Управен суд), which, under newly adopted legislation, had become competent to decide such issues, dismissed an appeal on points of law submitted by the Solicitor General (тужба за управен спор). The court endorsed the reasoning given in the Supreme Court’s judgment of 5 November 2004. Referring to the preparatory construction work indicated in the on-site examination report of 22 February 2002, it also stated that any further construction work on the plot in question had been carried out contrary to section 72 of the Restitution Act.
15.  On 6 March 2002 the applicants requested the restoration of former plot no. 102, which included part of plot no. 2943/6, confiscated from the late Mr K.S. (the surface area of this part was 1,449 sq. m).
16.  On 27 December 2003 the Restitution Commission delivered a partial decision (делумно решение) by virtue of which the undeveloped plots were returned to the applicants and compensation was awarded for the plots which had meanwhile been developed. It also ruled that a separate decision would be given concerning the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6. As indicated in this decision, it replaced a decision of 9 September 2003 in which the Restitution Commission had, inter alia, restored the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 to the applicants (this latter decision, which was not submitted by the parties, was set aside by the Appeal Commission upon an appeal by the Solicitor General).
17.  In its decision of 27 December 2003, the Restitution Commission further referred to a report issued by the State Geodetic Institute (Државен Завод за геодетски работи) on 5 August 2002 at the request of the Ministry of Finance. In the report the State Geodetic Institute identified, on the basis of an on-site examination carried out in the presence of a representative of the Restitution Commission, the plots of land under the new land register that comprised the former plot no. 102. Given the plots of land that are referred to in the report, it is obvious that it was issued in connection with the applicants’ restitution claim. The relevant parts of this report stated that:
“According to cadastral records ...
Plots nos. 2943/3 and 2943/6 are recorded in land register no. 30165 as follows: plot no. 2943/3 as orchards ... and plot no. 2943/6 as undeveloped building land, the total surface area of which was 3,970 sq. m., belonging to G.D.”
18.  The Restitution Commission also referred to an examination carried out on-site on 10 December 2003 (the report of which was not submitted in evidence) according to which petrol tanks had been installed on the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 (вкопани цистерни за гориво). The Commission also quoted a letter of 22 December 2003 in which the Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed that proceedings for obtaining documents relevant to the construction work on plot no. 2943/6 were still pending. Given the fact that the administrative proceedings for obtaining documents for the construction work were pending, the Restitution Commission ruled that the applicants’ claim regarding the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 would be decided by means of a separate decision. This decision became final on 26 February 2004.
19.  On 3 March 2004 the Restitution Commission granted the applicants’ restitution claim concerning the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 and awarded them monetary compensation in State bonds. Relying on an “additional on-site examination” (дополнителен увид на лице место) of 10 December 2003, the Restitution Commission found that the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6 had been developed, namely that part of a petrol station had been built on it.
20.  The applicants appealed against this decision, arguing that the Restitution Commission had erred regarding both the facts and the law, that it had based its decision on the on-site inspection report of 10 December 2003, and that it had not provided any evidence regarding the timing or legality of the construction of the petrol station. They further argued that the plot in question had been disposed of contrary to section 72 of the Restitution Act (see paragraph 32 below). They claimed restoration of title to the relevant part of plot no. 2943/6, as was the case with the claimants who had obtained title to the remainder of that plot. In this connection they referred to the Supreme Court’s judgment of 5 November 2004 (see paragraph 10 above).
21.  On 27 February 2006 the Appeal Commission dismissed the applicants’ appeal and confirmed the Restitution Commission’s decision of 3 March 2004. It found that the Restitution Commission had correctly established that the relevant land had been developed, as was apparent from the on-site examination report of 10 December 2003. The building permit for the construction of the petrol station of 16 May 2001 (upheld by the Supreme Court on 20 March 2003) was not to be considered a legal measure or unilateral declaration within the meaning of section 72 of the Restitution Act. It was a decision taken by a competent body at the request of a private company, which, as a user of an undeveloped plot of a State-owned land (корисник на градежно неизградено земјиште во државна сопственост), had the right to construct the petrol station in compliance with local urban planning rules. Referring to section 27(2) of the Restitution Act, the Appeal Commission found that the Restitution Commission had correctly applied sections 37 and 38 of the Restitution Act (see paragraphs 29 and 30 below). It stated that:
“What needs to be examined is whether confiscated agricultural land (as in the present case) was undeveloped building land when the restitution claim was submitted but not when the Restitution Act entered into force. Both the impugned decision and the appeal confirm that the restitution claim was submitted on 6 March 2002 and that the building permit for the construction of the petrol station was dated 16 May 2001. [The applicants] neither suggest nor is there any evidence in the case file that the construction of the object had not started before the restitution claim was submitted. On the contrary, the on-site examination carried out by the Restitution Commission on 10 December 2003 confirms that part of a petrol station had been built on this construction land.”
22.  The applicants challenged this decision by way of an appeal on points of law in which they argued that the plot in question had been undeveloped when they submitted the restitution claim. In this connection they referred to the on-site examination of 22 February 2002, which had been carried out only twelve days before their restitution claim. They further submitted in evidence copies of several letters that they had sent to the competent authorities and the investor requesting termination of the construction work pending the outcome of the restitution proceedings. They also submitted in evidence certain court judgments, on the basis of which the building permit of 16 May 2001 was no longer final. They further argued that in any event the fact that the building permit of 16 May 2001 pre-dated their restitution claim was irrelevant for the reasons advanced in the Supreme Court’s judgment of 5 November 2004. The applicants requested that the court follow, in their case, the Supreme and Administrative Courts’ judgments delivered in the restitution proceedings instituted by the claimants concerning the same plot (no. 2943/6), in order to ensure consistent application of the law.
23.  On 26 June 2008 the adjudicating panel of the Administrative Court with the same composition as the panel that adopted the judgment of 27 March 2008 (see paragraph 14 above) dismissed the applicants’ appeal and ruled, for the same reasons advanced by the Appeal Commission, that the plot in question could not be restored into the applicants’ possession. This judgment was served on the applicants on 1 September 2008.
24.  On 29 May 2009 the Administrative Court dismissed the applicants’ request for the proceedings to be reopened, finding that the judgment of 27 March 2008 had been delivered in a different set of proceedings and accordingly could not serve as a legal ground for a different decision in the applicants’ case. Furthermore, that judgment could not be regarded as new evidence.